Dark Beginnings
by Mister Nemesis
Summary: Three years after the defeat of the Covenant, the Master Chief is sent on a special mission. At first, things seem to be going well, but they soon take a turn for the worse, and a sinister plot begins to unfold.
1. And So It Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Bungie, Halo, or any of its related trademarks. (I wish I did though)

This is my first fanfic, and I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would R&R. Since it's my first, I don't mind criticism, so don't be afraid to bash it to pieces. Anyway, read and enjoy. XD

Chapter 1

0933 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/  
UNSC Vessel Aurelius, Salusa Primus system, near planet Solitude

John, Spartan 117, stood on the deck of the Aurelius, staring at the barren planet that was Solitude. The name fit well. It was a planet that consisted almost entirely of mountains and deserts. It had a few mountain lakes, and only one small sea. Not only was it a very lonely locale, but it also made a good hiding place.

The reason he was here was that a rogue Covenant faction had made their base of operations here. Since the defeat of the Covenant three years ago, tens of thousands of Covenant refugees had escaped annihilation, and formed several different rebel factions. Always a constant nuisance, they were always trying to foil the UNSC in some way, whether through sabotage, cloak-and-dagger tactics, or open, all-out attacks. Since then, John and the Marine Corps had wiped out most of them. However, the more intelligent and better-organized rebels kept slipping from the UNSC's grasp.

Then, three weeks ago, they caught an extremely lucky break when an old space probe was accidentally pulled into Solitude's orbit. It crash-landed, but managed to keep functioning due to it's thick titanium-A casing. It picked up very unusual activity on the planet's surface. It was still sending a signal, but even then, Naval personnel ignored the readings, thinking it was a malfunction from the crash. What did catch their attention was the sudden cutoff of the signal. Normally, it would take some time for it to die out, even from a serious technical failure. Few things could cause a signal from an MS-3 probe to stop that quickly, the Covenant being among them. They took a closer look at the recorded readings, and realizing that it could only be one of the factions, immediately alerted UNSC High Command. John was called to duty, and loaded aboard the Aries-class destroyer, Aurelius.

Three weeks of cryo-suspension later, here he was.

"Sir."

John was suddenly snapped back to reality. He looked at the man that addressed him. It was the Second Mate.

"What is it?"

The man shook and sweated profusely as he tried to form words. Not many men could stand face-to-face with the Master Chief in his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor and not do so. The Chief waited a little longer, and he finally managed to speak.  
"S-Sergeant Malkins and Lieutenant Johnson report that they're g-going to the surface in f-fifteen minutes." Malkins was the heading the ODST, or Helljumper, contingent on board. The LT was in charge of a whole company of normal Marines. John began the walk to the launch-bay.

Until two months ago, Johnson had been a Sergeant. On that day, Johnson had saved thirty-three men that had been pinned down in an abandoned bunker by the Covenant. Using a clever strategy, he had baited the attackers into a small room, trapped them, and blown them all to hell with concealed Lotus antitank mines.

He had refused the promotion at first, like many others before it, but his CO, a close friend named Liston, had eventually convinced him to take the promotion, so he had grudgingly accepted it. Now, even though he was technically in charge of the operation, he promptly refused to give orders to John. He claimed that, by now, John should be a three-star General, and that he respected him too much to order him around.

Of course, John had been offered promotions several times as well, but he too refused. He liked his position just as it was. It reminded him of all his fellow Spartans who had died in the past. Sam . . . Anton . . . Fred . . . Kelly. He suddenly stopped as he remembered that Kelly wasn't officially dead. She had gone missing four years ago when Dr. Halsey, the person who had made him what he was, had abducted Kelly and disappeared into slipspace with her. But that was a long time ago, and no trace of them had ever been found. Even though the only logical conclusion was that they had died long ago, He couldn't help but retain that small bit of hope that they were still alive. Dr. Halsey's disappearance was also the reason why he still wore the MJOLNIR IV. No one quite had the good doctor's level of intelligence and innovation, and no one had ever been able to develop an advanced model of the armor. They had certainly tried.

John returned to the present as walked into the bay. He saw some fifty ODSTs loading their equipment into their pods for the drop to the planet below. The other marines under Johnson's command were getting ready as well, but they weren't heading to the surface, at least not yet. They were there as reinforcements. John hoped they wouldn't need them, but he knew that was very unlikely. He walked over to a weapons locker and grabbed four frag grenades, a BR55 battle rifle, two SMGs, and three clips for each. He stuffed the grenades into his belt, and carried the rest to a pod. He secured them, sat down on a nearby bench, and began a manual systems check of his armor. He was nearly done when the holopad next to him flickered to life, and a familiar purple hologram appeared on it.

"Forget somebody?" said Cortana.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," replied John, not even glancing up.

"So you were expecting me?"

"Yes, I was."

"Really?" she said sarcastically. "So you knew I'd come to this exact terminal?"

"Yes," he said as he finished the check. "That's why there's a data card in terminal."

"Wha-?" she said, surprised for a millionth of a second as she scanned the card slot. But,

ho- . . . never mind." She had learned long ago not to even attempt to predict his actions. "Anyway, Chief, we've found the general area that this particular faction is occupying, based upon enemy movements, but I can't pinpoint it's exact location. It seems to be somewhere underground. Looks like you're going to have to do a little recon work."

"That's fine by me," he said as he took a quick look around the bay. Malkins was already beginning the usual pre-drop speech to the Helljumpers as all of them, including Malkins, started their final checks. Cortana continued,

"Okay. We'll be landing two miles from the edge of enemy activity, on a large mesa. Hopefully, you'll land with fifty-two intact ODSTs. Your window for this op is sixty hours. Got it?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright. You ready to yank me?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Ha ha," she muttered sarcastically as she disappeared into the pad. John pulled out the card, and inserted it into the slot in the back of his head. He felt the all too familiar feeling of ice cold mercury rushing into his head. He had missed that.

"Well, I see you can still build a cruiser in all this empty space," said her voice inside his head.

"Very funny," he replied. He leaned back into his pod, secured his straps, and re-checked everything just in time to hear Malkins recite the usual Helljumper sendoff:

"All right, Helljumpers. Shove a cork in your ass!"

The hatch slid over John's pod, sealing him inside. He steeled himself for the launch, and barely heard Cortana's whisper.

"Geronimo," she said in a virtual exhalation as their pod was launched into the void.


	2. Descent

Chapter 2

0951 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/  
Salusa Primus System, upper atmosphere of planet Solitude

The Master Chief was as rigid as a steel column as his Helljumper pod shot toward the planet surface below. Not many people jumped at the opportunity to ride a cramped titanium tube to the surface of a planet at several hundred miles an hour. That explained why ODSTs were known as both the toughest and the craziest bastards in the Marine Corps. Even John was slightly uneasy about it. But the others seemed to have no problem with it.

"YEEEEHAW!" someone yelled over the radio. It was followed by several other whoops and cheers. He even heard such things as,

"Hit something ugly when you reach the ground!"

Suddenly, he heard Sergeant Malkins shout, "Hey! I want this COM channel quiet! You might as well throw out a huge banner telling the Covenant we're here!"

The silence immediately after that was uncanny, with only the dull rushing and rumbling sound of their capsules' descent in the background. The Master Chief was surprised by and disapproved of the disregard towards security. It had been that way since the end of the war. He almost wished that the war was still going so these men would learn their lesson a bit more thoroughly. Almost.

They had been riding on in silence for a couple more minutes when the pod's outer layer started stripping off. The Chief didn't react to this because this always happened. It's only purpose was to protect the passenger from the intense outer heat until the pod slowed down by use of the large metal cross that was the primary parachute. Suddenly, Cortana's voice burst out of his helmet speakers.

"Chief, we have a problem." That quickly put him on full alert. She said, "That shield came off ninety-three seconds too early."

"Why?" he demanded.

She was silent for a few moments as she checked the Aurelius' records.

"This pod was scheduled to receive maintenance, but because of a data error, it never got it. That was over a year ago."

"What does that mean for us?" he asked.

"It means," she replied, "that this capsule is going to become an oven and a coffin at the same time."

"Send a message to Malkins now," he ordered. In mere milliseconds she adjusted the radio frequency, composed a short but detailed audio message, and sent it to the ODST Sergeant's capsule. The Chief waited anxiously for the Sergeant's reply though he doubted they could help him.

After a few moments, Malkin's voice, heavy with despair, burst over the radio. Almost as if he had read John's mind, he said, "Chief, there's not much I can do, except hope that you don't suffer. I'm sorry." John then heard a click that signified Malkins had cut off the signal.

"Cortana, how much time do we have?"

"About a minute longer," she responded.

John took a few moments to consider his options. If he stayed with the capsule, he'd burn alive. Even through his energy shields he could feel the temperature rising rapidly. Even now his shield bar was draining, very slowly but steadily. He thought of pulling a 'Fred' and abandoning the capsule, but there was a problem with that too. Fred had been heading in at an angle, and he had barely lived through it. John was heading straight down, and that meant he would have almost no chance of surviving the impact. Then he had it.

"Cortana, I need you to override the safety clamps securing the secondary parachute, but not release it," he instructed.

"Why? It'll only disintegrate at this speed."

"Just do it." he said.

"Fine. Jack me in," she said. He removed the chip from the back of his skull, shrugged off the feeling of emptiness, and inserted it into a slot. After a moment, he heard a heavy thunk above him as the clamps were released. Then Cortana said, "It's done. Bring me out."

He pulled out the card and re-inserted it into his head. Ignoring the feeling of ice-mercury, he opened his belt and began removing the frag grenades in it.

"What are you doing?" She queried. She seemed alarmed, but it sounded like she was more worried about John's behavior than their situation.

He replied by saying, "If I go outside with these grenades, the heat will detonate them." She took a moment to think about his actions. At that moment, if she had been in holographic form, her eyes would have gone wide.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do?" she asked, shocked. He didn't answer, but instead reached for the emergency hatch release. With his other hand, he gripped the frame of the pod with unbelievable strength, and warped the metal doing so. Then he pulled the lever.

The hatch was ripped from his hands and the pod was filled with a deafening roar. While he struggled against being ripped into empty space, he shut off his helmet speakers, and looked through the door. All he saw was blue sky fringed with bright flaring orange from the air friction. After taking a moment to steel himself, he began climbing through the door. Suddenly, everything was moving in Spartan time, where time seemed to race and crawl simultaneously.

His shields flared in the intense heat and his shield bar began depleting quickly. He grabbed on to the top of the door frame with one hand, and let himself be pulled out. He was flown out behind the pod and barely managed to hang on with his lone hand. He noticed that his shield bar was almost empty, and began to move faster. With his free hand, he pried open a hatch on the top of the pod. Because of the slipstream generated by it's the pod's passing, he found his free hand easier to move. He snatched a small titanium cube out of the pods 'trunk', and let go.

He flipped and tumbled through the air, and everything flew past his visor at once. He stretched out all his limbs except for the arm holding the cube, and within a few seconds he stabilized. Below, he could see the mountainous terrain and few black specks that were the other Helljumpers, still descending towards the mesa below. Suddenly his pod, which had raced ahead of him, was engulfed in a huge fireball as the grenades inside succumbed to the insane heat and detonated. Flecks of shrapnel were flung across the sky.

Because of his smaller mass, he slowed greatly. As a result he did not generate friction and his shield bar, with only a sliver of energy left, stopped draining and refilled itself. After a few more seconds of freefall, he reached his other hand beneath him and opened the cube. A plasteel parachute flew out of it and unfurled itself in the open air, nearly flying out of John hands. Holding on for dear life, he floated lazily toward the mesa below. Suddenly Cortana burst over his helmet speakers, startling him.

"So tell me," she said, "do you enjoy trying to kill the both of us?"

"I thought I turned these off," he replied wearily.

"I'm the best in software intrusion that the UNSC has to offer, and you're surprised that I managed to turn on your speakers? You don't expect much of me do you?" she asked mischievously. He decided not to say anything.

A few minutes later, he landed amongst a group of speechless ODSTs in the process of setting up base. After a few seconds of awkward stares and gaping mouths, Sergeant Malkins appeared from among his men and walked over to the seemingly invincible Spartan.

Still staring, he managed to say, "I- I thought you were dead."

"You're not the first," responded John.

The Sergeant realized he was still staring and composed himself. Then he barked out an order to his men.

"Someone get this man some weapons!" he yelled. "We can't send a soldier into battle without a firearm!"

Within seconds the Chief had a battle rifle, a Navy issue HE pistol, some ammo clips, and two grenades.

As he was checking the weapons Malkins said, "I'll say one thing about you Chief. You're one hell of a soldier." He paused as he checked his mission clock. "Well Chief, it's time to get moving. You ready to kick some Covenant ass?"

The Master Chief slapped a clip into the rifle, pulled the charging lever that loaded a bullet into the chamber, and said, "I'm surprised you have to ask."


	3. Watch Where You Step

Chapter 3

1121 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/  
Salusa Primus System, unnamed valley, planet Solitude

The Master Chief crouched in the dense shrubbery, completely still. His green armor allowed him decent camouflage in the thick leaves. Around him, hidden in the foliage as well, were fifty Helljumpers. All of them sat, not making any motions at all. Every single one of them, including the Chief, were staring intently at a small opening set in the side of a large hill. They had been sitting there for the last fifteen minutes, waiting for John and Malkins to give them orders.

The reason they were there was because they had followed a small group of sentries back to this entrance, and were waiting for any sort of activity. So far, nothing had happened while they waited, and that was all that kept them from taking any action. It could have been their headquarters, but for all they knew, it could just have been an empty cave that the sentries were investigating.

Their plan was to take a small HAVOK tactical nuke, kept in a special pouch on John's belt, deep inside their headquarters and prime it for detonation. After they had retreated a safe distance, they would set it off, effectively eliminating any Covenant activity on the planet. As a precaution, Lieutenant Johnson and his company would then sweep the surrounding area for any remaining survivors, and the area would be bombarded with the Aurelius' newly acquired plasma weapons. Of course, all this meant it would be a stealth mission. Discovery early on would mean certain failure.

Earlier, John and the Helljumpers had spotted the sentries only minutes after landing. It was a small party made up of an Elite, two Jackals, and five Grunts. They had quickly gathered their equipment up and followed them. They had followed them through sparse forest and across a mesa. They had almost been found out when they stumbled upon a Grunt who had fallen behind to relieve himself. Fortunately, he was silenced by the Chief's combat knife before he could raise the alarm. Unfortunately, a Helljumper accidentally got his boot smeared with fluorescent blue crap.

They had finally tracked them to this location, and now they waited for something to happen. Suddenly, several red blips appeared on the edge of his motion tracker. John put his hand up in a fist, palm forward, and pumped it down. It was the signal to be ready. They reacted accordingly, quietly checking their weapons and making sure everything was in working order. The blips on the motion tracker moved closer, and the things causing them came into view. It was a large squad made up of some Elites, several Jackals, masses of Grunts, and two Hunters. After observing them for a few seconds, he realized that they were all escorting one Elite. He was wearing decorative golden armor with alien symbols etched all over it. He also wore a holographic red cape with a golden energy sword emblazoned on it. Whoever this Elite was, he was obviously very important. John also noted that one of his eyes was a milky white color, indicating he was blind in that eye. He stored that information in the back of his mind, in case it became useful later. Cortana suddenly interrupted his train of thought with a whisper.

"Chief, I'm picking up communications from that Elite's bodyguards. From what I can tell, this particular faction calls itself the Light of Salvation. Typical rebel name. Anyway, I've also found that this cave is indeed their base of operations. I think that's a very good incentive for you to move in," she murmured.

Instead of saying anything, he simply winked his acknowledgment light. He didn't want to risk any more talking than necessary. He waited as the cluster of Covenant moved into the cave. After waiting a few minutes, he moved his hand up and waved his hand forward. As planned half of the unit responded and moved quickly and quietly into the open, while the other half, including Malkins, waited in the brush to guard their means of escape. They checked the surrounding area for enemies, and finding none, started moving into the cave. The Chief waited until everyone had gone in, and followed them. He moved swiftly to the front and continued deeper into the cave.

They moved down a gently sloping and somewhat narrow hallway. The light from the entrance quickly faded, and everyone turned on their helmet lights. The narrow tunnel was quickly bathed in intense light. The Chief immediately made a cutting motion across his throat, and the entire unit simultaneously snapped their lights off. The Chief left his lights on. That simple incident reminded him immensely just how unlike his Spartans they were.

That thought triggered a sudden and unexpected flashback. He saw a wide clearing in the middle of a forest . . . him and his team walking through the clearing . . . a Phantom descending from the sky overhead . . . Fred firing his rifle at it while everyone ran for cover . . . Fred standing up to run . . . the Phantom raining plasma on him . . . his shields failing . . . Fred falling forward in slow motion . . . John watching as he died right in front of him . . .

John shook his head to clear it out. He couldn't afford to be having those thoughts right now. He needed to focus on the mission. He continued down the tunnel with twenty-six Helljumpers in tow.

They soon arrived at a door. John checked it and, as he expected, it was locked. He pulled Cortana's chip from the back of his head and inserted it into the slot above the keypad, and Cortana slipped in wordlessly to unlock the door. As she worked, the Chief checked his silencer to make sure it was in working order and verified that his magazine was full. The door slid open silently, and the Chief brought up his rifle and moved forward into the corridor beyond. As planned, he left Cortana inside the system to provide assistance when necessary.

He swept the corridor, and seeing that it was empty, motioned everyone else forward. It was lit, so he shut off his helmet lights, and walked silently to the end of the corridor. It forked, so using a series of hand signals he directed five ODSTs to come with him on the path to the right, and everyone else to go down the passageway on the left.

The group split, and John was suddenly left with only five men. They quickly moved down the passage. As they were walking, John noticed the uncanny silence that filled the air. He couldn't figure out why, but it tugged at the edge of his mind and set him on edge. They reached the end of the hallway and another door. When they got close to the door, it slid open as it detected their presence. As it opened, the Chief suddenly realized why the silence had nagged at him. For a group that had recently discovered a UNSC space probe nearby and considered itself the only hope for the revival of the Covenant, the facility was devoid of heightened security and relocation personnel. That could only have meant that they had walked straight into a trap. He knew this because standing on the other side of the door were eight Elites with their rifles leveled at them. One of them bared it's mandibles and roared a battle cry. The corridor was suddenly filled with the sound of several plasma rifles firing at once.


	4. Wait, What Just Hit The Fan?

Yes yes, I know, I'm overdue for a new chapter. But waiting for something only makes it sweeter when you finally get it. Oh, and a big thanks to Pink Skittles for my first review. XD

Disclaimer:

Sergeant Johnson: 'Bout time! You been keeping everybody waitin' for this damn chapter!

Nemesis: Well, by everybody, I guess you must mean all the people who read this fanfic . . . the number of which I can count on one hand.

SJ: Don't be talkin' back to me, boy! I'm doing my job!

Nemesis: Yelling at me?

SJ: If you give me any more lip, I swear . . .

Nemesis: Swearing? You? Impossible.

SJ: That's it! Drop and give me 50!

Nemesis: I'm not a Marine! You can't make me!

SJ: Wanna put some money on that bet? _Points his thumb at the Master Chief, who is standing behind him and cracking his knuckles suggestively_

Nemesis: . . . . . . _Drops to the ground without a word and starts doing push-ups_

SJ: That's the spirit. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to mention that this sorry excuse for a human being does not own Bungie, Halo, or any related trademarks.

Nemesis: _Huffs and puffs_ Hey! You don't need to remind me!

SJ: That's funny. I thought I heard a useless lump of flesh speaking back to me when they're supposed to be doing push-ups! I think I might just have to have a certain cyborg beat the living crap out of him!

Nemesis: _Starts going faster_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4

1143 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Vessel Aurelius, Salusa Primus System, near planet Solitude

Warrant Officer Tom Phillerson sat at his console, Weapons Station One, on the bridge of the Aurelius, thinking. Scarcely two hours ago, he had discreetly watched as the near-legendary Master Chief had stood not more than three feet from him, studying the planet through the front viewport. Even though most people would have automatically assumed he was studying it for tactical purposes, Phillerson had the slightest feeling that there had been other things on the soldier's mind. He thought of himself as having an intuition for these kinds of things.

He sat there, wondering what the man (Unlike most people, he thought of the Chief as a man, and not a thing) could possibly have been thinking about, when the brightly lit controls before him emitted a loud beep. He immediately snapped out of his wandering thoughts, and studied the display in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw the readings, and quickly turned in the chair. "Morgan!" he yelled to a woman sitting at another station, the only other person on the bridge at the moment. She was the Officer in charge of ship communications, Morgan Lancing. She turned in her chair to look at him, and he said "Get the Captain on the line! We need him up here now!" She gave a slight nod, and turned back to her console, tapping some of the keys.

"Sir, this is Officer Lancing." She spoke into her screen, or rather, the audio receptors installed next to it. "We have an urgent situation on the bridge, and we need you up here now."

"I'm on my way." Came Captain Gerittsen's voice out of the speakers, and the line clicked as it closed. Lancing turned back to Phillerson once more, and asked "What did you find?"

"See for yourself." He said grimly, and motioned her over. She left her seat, and walked over and bent over to look at the screen. He punched a few keys, and it switched to the viewpoint of a Clarion spy drone.

"I don't see anything." She said, confused because all she saw on the screen was black.

"Just a second." He said, and hit another one. After a few moments, she saw that the drone was moving, and had been looking at the dark side of one of Solitude's moons.

"I still don't see what's wrong." She stated as she watched the drone look at the sun rising over the planet.

"Look closely." He told her. She stared intently at the screen for a few more seconds, and then she saw it. There, on the edge of the bright ball of light coming around the side of the planet, was a speck of darkness. He punched some more buttons, and the scope zoomed in and applied a UV filter, shutting out most of the light and providing a better look at the object. Lancing gasped as she recognized the all too familiar sleek and bulbous shape of a Covenant cruiser. Its lateral lines glowed brightly with plasma ready to fire. "Looks like these guys are better prepared than we thought." He said quietly.

She hurried back to her seat, and began work on the things she would inevitably need to do once the captain gave her orders. Roughly a minute later, the captain walked through doors of the bridge, heading straight over to Lancing. She gestured at Phillerson, who in turn briefed him on the problem. After taking a few moments to think, he turned back to Lancing and told her "Sound the ship alarm, and make an announcement telling all crew on board to prepare for ship to ship combat."

"Aye, sir." She said, and tapped the necessary keys. The rapid beeping sound echoed throughout the superstructure, quickly followed by her voice booming through the speakers. Captain Gerittsen turned and looked through the front viewport, watching as the cruiser turned and moved in their direction. He was only partially worried by the prospect of battle. Unlike engagements during the war, this time they were on equal terms because of the ships new technology, stolen from the Covenant years ago. However, he knew they would not walk away from this unscathed. He could only hope the wounds weren't too severe.

In the corridors far beneath Solitude's surface, bright blue plasma splashed over flesh and stone. When the door had opened, the Chief and three of the ODSTs had made the split second decision to drop to the floor. The other two, the one standing nearest to the door and the one second from the rear were immediately cut down as the enemy warriors opened up. Fortunately for the John and the Helljumpers who had been spared, the harsh light and noise from the plasma discharges and the sheer chaos ensuing from all of them firing at once, none of the Elites had quite realized that not all of the bodies on the floor were dead, and kept up the continuous fire.

The Chief's shields already lit up like a Christmas tree, all four humans opened fire on the foremost soldier, whose shields flared for a split second under the assault of a quadruple burst of bullets before failing. The Elites standing immediately behind him were splattered with purple blood, and he crumpled to the floor. This notified the rest of them to their presence, and they stopped firing for a moment to train the deadly weapons on John and the other three. With yet a second lucky break, the doors between them slid shut just as they were about to obliterate the four of them, and didn't open again. John wondered for a moment what had caused the doors to close, when Cortana's voice emitted from his COM link.

"It looked like you needed some help there Chief." She said smugly.

"Thanks for the assistance." He replied in his rough voice.

"You're welcome." She responded. John quickly stood up, and tried to radio the rest of the group and warn them that the Covenant was aware of their presence. However, because of the thick stone walls, all he got was static. He checked the bodies of the fallen Helljumpers, and after making sure they were indeed dead, he listed them on his roster as KIA, and went to check on the living ODSTs when sparks suddenly started shooting from the closed door. He whipped around, and saw that the Covenant were trying to cut through it. Quickly formulating a plan in his head, he pulled a frag grenade from his belt, along with a strip of EB Green, and taped it to the door in the path that the sparks were slowly moving. Then, borrowing a can of C7 from one of the still living soldiers, he sprayed half the can on to the ceiling overhead and stuck a detonator pin into the hardening foam. "Let's go." He told the other three, and started moving down the corridor. They followed him, one of them limping slightly.

After a couple of minutes of walking down the quiet hallway, they heard a loud bang echo from behind them as the grenade detonated. The Chief quickly pulled out a detonation trigger, and after flipping a couple of switches, pressed the button. There was a resounding boom, followed immediately by an even louder rumbling as that part of the corridor caved in. He tossed the trigger away, and continued on. They soon reached the fork where the group had originally split. He tried them on the radio once again, but still received no response. He hoped that it was only because they were still getting interference, but knew that was unlikely. He hurried down the right fork, wanting to help the rest of them if they had indeed been ambushed as well. His worries were soon realized as his helmet speakers soon started emitting the faint and familiar sounds of gunfire and plasma discharge, along with the cries of both humans and aliens. He ran at full tilt towards the sound of battle, knowing the others would catch up later. He hoped he could get there in time.


	5. Out Of The Frying Pan

Here it is, chapter 5. Oh, and thanks to Halosobsessed1010 for the tip. :)

Disclaimer:

Nemesis: _Is hunched over something and is hard at work on it_

Sergeant Johnson: _Trying to peer over his shoulder_ What crazy thing you workin' on now, boy?

Nemesis: Something that will revolutionize the Halo universe . . . Be right back! _Suddenly grabs what he was working on and runs into another room _

SJ: _Shakes his head slowly as he watches him go, and a few minutes pass by  
_

Nemesis:_ Suddenly bursts from the room, wearing a bunch of cardboard boxes colored green with a crayon_ Tah Dah!

SJ: _Staring wide-eyed_ What in God's name are you wearin'!

Nemesis: May I introduce . . . the MJOLNIR Mark VII! Dun dah dah!

SJ: . . . . . . You need help.

Nemesis: What? You don't like it?

SJ: No.

Nemesis: You're mean. _Glares at him_

SJ: Hell yeah! And just to prove it, you do not own Bungie, Halo, or any of it's related trademarks.

Nemesis: Gah! So cruel!

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

1208 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Vessel Aurelius, Salusa Primus System, near planet Solitude

Alarms blared, and the Aurelius shuddered as it suffered a second plasma impact from the enemy ship. Phillerson grabbed the sides of his booth to keep from falling out of his chair, and one of the other officers on the bridge called out "Hit on the subengineering decks! Explosive decompression in compartments twelve through twenty-seven!"

Phillerson winced as he heard this. That was way too close the engines of the Aries-class destroyer. If the engines were at all damaged, that would put them at a serious disadvantage to the Covenant, who would then be able outmaneuver them. He held his breath as Captain Gerritsen asked for a report on engine status. There were a few moments of tense silence as the officer checked their status, and he said "Reactors are running at 94 percent efficiency Captain. Normal readings. They're undamaged." Phillerson let out a sigh of relief at these words, along with almost every other person on the bridge, and began concentrating on his console once again.

As the person manning Weapons Station One, he couldn't afford to be distracted for too long. One mistake from him could endanger the life of everyone on board. Coincidentally, just as he turned back, Captain Gerritsen said, "Charge the MAC gun magnetic coils and plasma turrets one through five. I want to hit them hard this time."

"Aye aye captain." said Phillerson, and quickly pressed the appropriate keys. "MAC gun magnetic fields coming online and plasma turrets warming." He said. "Charging." He watched as the energy readings for both types of weapons rose. Meanwhile, the Covenant cruisers plasma turrets were beginning to glow again, slowly changing colors as they became hotter.

Gerritsen was watching this happen through the front viewport. He knew that the Covenant had them on the ropes, and that the battle could go either way. He wished that their chances were better than that. Only someone with a mind like that of Captain Keyes or Admiral Cole could ensure that, because even giving the Covenant a taste of their own medicine wasn't enough . . . or was it? This thought passed through his head, bringing along with it an idea. "Phillerson, halt charging the MAC gun magnetic coils, but keep heating the plasma turrets. As soon as they finish charging, I want you to fire upon their turrets." He then turned his head towards the Navigations officer and ordered "Lay in a new course. Zero-nine-zero by zero-one-five."

Phillerson's eyes opened wide as he heard these two commands. Unless the book on battle tactics had changed since he'd looked, having less weapons capabilities to use on your enemy was a bad idea. Also, the course he'd just set would take the Aurelius to collide with the cruiser, crashing them together side by side. He suddenly wondered if the captain had lost his mind. However, he trusted the man, and so he didn't voice his objections. Instead, he did as he was told and started pushing buttons. It looked as if the Navigations officer thought the same way, for after a few seconds of hesitation, the ship beagan to move sideways, directly towards the Covenant ship. The plasma turrets were almost white, showing that they were nearly ready to fire. So was the Aurelius'. The Covenant cruiser seemed to pause at the unexpected movement from the humans, and who could blame them? It wasn't everyday that an enemy you were locked in mortal combat with made a seemingly suicidal move like this. That gave them a few spare seconds, which was exactly what Captain Gerritsen had planned on.

They were a couple thousand kilometers apart when the console before Phillerson emitted a loud tone. He quickly yelled "Captain! Turrets are charged and ready to fire!"

Gerritsen quickly returned with "Fire at will!" Pumped with adrenaline coursing through his body, Phillerson slammed his finger on to a red key, driving it down into his console hard. The turrets on the starboard side of the Aurelius flashed, and five enormous globes of superheated plasma raced away from them. This jump-started the Covenant into action, because after a few moments of pause, they fired their turrets as well. Gerritsen smiled, because with this action, they had just condemned themselves.

The plasma was barely away from the enemy ship, but far away from the Aurelius, when the plasma fired from the destroyer collided with their cousins. There was an incredibly bright flash of light as a fatal chain reaction ensued, and everyone on the bridge was forced to turn away or cover their eyes to avoid being damaging their eyes. Monitors became fuzzy, and speakers emitted a buzzing noise for a few seconds as a wave of energy from the blast washed over them. The light soon faded, and they all looked to see the outcome.

Just about everyone's eyes widened, for the cruiser was now devastated. Most of the hull on the side of the ship facing them had boiled away, revealing the skeletal superstructure beneath. It was slowly drifting in the other direction, probably the result of a massive explosive decompression. It was evident that they wouldn't be able to change course, for they were obviously dead in space, unable to maneuver. Even if they had been able to, the captain highly doubted they would even be able to use their remaining turrets. There were no longer any threat. There were several more seconds of silence as everyone slowly took this in, but it was quickly followed by a loud cheer throughout the bridge. Gerritsen, unable to help himself, broke out into a wide grin. Phillerson was one of the people letting out a victory cheer. However, deep down in his thoughts, he wondered if the men on the planet below them were doing as well.

John reached the end of the hall, raising his rifle and slowing down as the doors there opened for him. The scene that greeted him was one of total chaos.

He entered a large room, domed room, about the size of a high school auditorium. Pinned down on one side of it, near him, were the rest of the Helljumpers that had entered the complex with him. Half of them were either lying on the floor or propped up against a wall, seriously injured or dead. The rest of them were hiding behind various types of cover and periodically poking their heads out, firing towards the other end of the room. That end was swarming with at least fifty Covenant soldiers, their ranks made up of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites. They were covering the walls with plasma fire as they too dodged in and out of cover.

The Master Chief peered through the scope of his rifle, drawing a bead on a Jackal's exposed cranium, then pulling the trigger and causing it's skull to explode. The other warriors didn't notice, too preoccupied with the ODSTs. He took down several Grunts, some more Jackals, and a few Elites before a Grunt noticed, and opened up in his direction with a plasma pistol. At this distance, it's aim was horrible, the shots going wide and missing him by several feet. He quickly gave the creature a one-way ticket to the afterlife, but a few of his fellow soldiers had already grown aware of his presence, and were firing at him too. Some were a lot more accurate than the Grunt, as was shown by the way his energy shields quickly lit up. Knowing that he would be unable to move forward if he stayed there much longer, he rushed out into the open, heading for the trapped Helljumpers.

White-hot plasma splashed on the ground around his pounding feet and over his shields as he ran. By the time he dived behind a chest-height stone wall, his shields were down to an eighth of their full strength. A pair of Helljumpers were taking refuge behind the wall as well, and they turned to him ashe sat against the wall.

"Good to see ya Chief! We could really use some help right now!" called out one of them over the noise. The other one simply looked at him. The Chief suddenly had the strange feeling that this ODST wasn't as happy to see him, and guessed that behind the blue visor of his helmet, he was sneering. He knew that it was because some Helljumpers still held grudges against him, just as they had during the war. Luckily, this particular man seemed wise enough to keep his thoughts silent because of their present situation. John nodded at the man who had spoken to him, and his shields began recharging. In roughly the span of a second, they were full again.

He went into a kneeling position, then popped over the wall, his rifle raised. In no time at all, he put the crosshairs in the scope over an Elite dressed in red armor, and squeezed the trigger. In his scope, he watched as it's shield flared, but held under the trio of bullets He fired a second burst, and this time he succeeded. The alien let out a roar of pain and rage as it's chest was ripped open. He collapsed, causing a few of the Grunts around it to start panicking as they saw him fall.

John hopped the wall, and bolted further into the room. He once again caught the attention of several enemy soldiers, who started shooting at him once more. He quickly dodged behind a large Covenant weapons crate. He pressed his back against it, pulling out a frag grenade from his belt and flicking out the pin with his thumb. He turned his body, exposing himself again and hurling the grenade into their midst, dodging behind the crate again. After a couple seconds, there was a loud thump as it detonated. He stole a look around the edge of the crate, and saw a lingering pillar of dust and smoke, along with the scattered and mutilated bodies of several enemies. There were still at least a couple dozen left standing though.

He turned to the weapons crate, hoping that what he needed at the moment was inside. He slammed his fist into it, smashing the panel and causing the crate to rock. After it settled, he grabbed the panel and wrenched it off, dropping it as he looked inside. The racks mostly had plasma rifles and needlers stacked on them, but down in the corner were two plasma grenades. He grabbed them, one in each hand, and pressed the primers on them. His visor quickly darkened in the bright light of the magnesium flare. He stepped out into the open again, and threw them both.

The first one missed a Jackal by an inch, and landed on the ground. They all moved away from it quickly, catching only a couple Grunts with the blast that followed a few seconds later. However, the second one found its way, attaching itself right on the forehead of an unlucky Grunt. He panicked, letting out cries and screeches of terror, and by a stroke of luck, unwittingly ran straight for a tightly packed group of Jackals and Elites. The Jackals had been using their shields to protect their commanders from incoming fire. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't thought that a threat could come from behind, and had left their rear vulnerable.

The Grunt ran straight amongst them, still screaming, and they had only enough time to comprehend what was happening before it went off. The ones nearest to it had been disintegrated, and the others were simply sent flying by the concussive force of the blast. Their ranks were now cut in half. The only ones remaining were a couple of blue-armor Elites, a few Jackals, and some Grunts. They were scared, not even taking time to aim as they shot wildly into the room. The ODSTs saw this, and started advancing toward the remnants of the Covenant fighters, picking them off slowly.

When there were only a few left, The Chief switched to his dual SMGs. He stepped out from behind the crate, and charged forward. He neared an Elite, and pressed the triggers on both weapons. A storm of bullets erupted from the barrels, and the creature's shields flared for a split second before failing. A couple seconds later, it was lying on the floor, a hole ripped through it's chest. John headed forward to finish off the rest.

Within the next minute, every non-human in the room was dead. Unfortunately, the ODSTs had suffered losses as well. There were fourteen of them left alive, and only ten were in any condition to fight. After debating his options, he sent two only slightly injured men to escort to the critically wounded ones back to the surface, while the other eight would stay with him to try and complete the mission. They pulled into a loose formation, advancing towards the door behind the scattered alien bodies. They got close to it, and it opened for them. John tensed in the memory of what had been waiting behind the door in the other corridor, but all that greeted them was darkness, for the room on the other side of it was completely unlit. His rifle raised, the Chief and the Helljumpers moved into the shadows, unsure what they would find.


	6. And Into The Plasma

Yes, I know, it's been way too long since I've posted a chapter. I've just been dealing with a bunch of junk lately. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy chapter 6.

Disclaimer:

SJ: Sure did take your sweet ass time, boy.

Nemesis: Hey, shut up! I've been busy!

SJ: Yeah, yeah. Excuses.

Nemesis: Why you . . .

SJ: And the worst thing is, now some poor souls will have to suffer through reading this pile of crap you cooked up.

Nemesis: What! You were just complaining on how long it took me to post this!

SJ: So? I was hopin' that might make it less painful to read it.

Nemesis: GRAAAAHHHH! That's it! You've gone too far! ((Runs through a nearby door, and emerges few seconds later wearing green cardboard boxes)) Now you shall face the wrath of the MJOLNIR Mark VII!

SJ: . . . . . . . . . . . . . ((Bursts into wild laughter and drops to the floor, rolling around and holding his stomach))

Nemesis: Hey! Quit laughing!

SJ: ((Ignores him and continues to laugh hysterically))

Nemesis: YAAAAAHHHHH! ((Starts running towards Johnson, but trips and falls flat on his face, crushing the box on his head))

SJ: ((Laughs even harder))

Nemesis: ((Mumbles, still lying motionless on the floor)) And the worst part is, I do not own Bungie, Halo, or any of its related trademarks.

SJ: ((Keeps laughing))

Nemesis: Ahh, shut up already.

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Chapter 6

1235 hours, June 19, 2556 (Military Calendar)/

UNSC Vessel Aurelius, Salusa Primus System, near Planet Solitude

"Damn," thought Warrant Officer Phillerson as he ran through the corridors of the Aurelius, his boots clanging loudly on the metal while red lights flashed over his head in correspondence with the blaring alarms. He gripped his chrome-plated HE pistol in his right hand, his index finger wrapped a bit too tightly around the trigger. "Damn, damn, damn," his thoughts repeated over and over in his head, grinding his teeth each time the word echoed inside his cranium. "This is all my fault," he then thought, finally ending the cycle. "If I had only been paying more attention, I could have prevented this. I should have been watching the monitors more closely."

He didn't realize it yet, but even though it was his responsibility to be on alert for incoming contacts, watching the small screens mounted at his console immediately after the destruction of the Covenant cruiser would have been unlikely to avert the current emergency. He would not have been able to see the Covenant infiltrator ships being launched from the enemy vessel not long before it had been consumed in a massive fireball, due to the fact that they were hidden by cloaking devices as they headed straight for the human destroyer. Unnoticed, they had guided themselves up to the hull of the Aurelius, and proceeded to bore through the titanium-A plating into the bowels of the ship. It was only then that it came to the attention of those on board what was occurring, but by then it was already too late.

Now, Covenant warriors were running amok in the lower levels of the ship, wreaking havoc while the Marines and crew tried to contain them. Unfortunately, things weren't going very well. Most of the soldiers that had been on board the infiltrator craft were Spec Ops commandos, easily identified by their glossy black armor. Even though they were greatly outnumbered, they were giving the men and women aboard the ship a Hell of a time dealing with the threat.

As if in testament to this, the acrid smell of burned flesh filled Phillerson's nostrils as he turned a corner, and the body of a Marine slumped against a wall came into view. The young Warrant Officer retched, and was forced to cover his nose as he ran past the scorched corpse, trying hard to resist the notion of stopping to stare at the horrific burns that covered the fallen soldier.

Nearing the opposite end of the corridor, he reached into his uniform, and pulled out a small crucifix that hung from around his neck, clenching it tightly in a closed fist so the points jabbed sharply into his palm. "Our Father, which art in Heaven . . ." he whispered under his breath, beginning the Lord's prayer as he turned yet another bend. Ever since he had been a small boy, his family had encouraged him to embrace religion, but he had been quite reluctant to do such things as praying before bed and attending mass every Sunday. However, he could think of no better time to reinforce his belief in the good Lord than the here and now.

". . . But deliver us from evil," he was saying, almost finished. However, his appeal was cut short as he heard noises coming from up ahead, emerging above the incessant noise of the alarm. He could hear shouting, both in human and alien tongues, plus the discharge of weapons from both sides, coming from behind a closed hatch at the end of the passageway. Quickly, he slowed his pace, and moved up against the wall. Pressing his back against it, he creeped slowly towards the source of the noise, his pistol held readily at his side. Soon, he reached the door, taking a few moments to listen to the racket that issued from behind it. Then, reaching out, he touched the panel that would open it. Immediately it slid open, revealing the firefight that lay beyond it.

A few feet away, about half a dozen Marines had made a makeshift barrier in a corridor that ran perpendicular to the one he was currently standing in. It was made up of several different objects, ranging from the long steel tables that usually populated the cafeteria, to thin sheets of titanium-A that had most likely been liberated from a supply room. It was the only protection offered to the small band of soldiers huddling behind it, who occasionally popped over their blockade to take a potshot at the enemy every now and then, ducking down again immediately afterwards.

Because of the corner formed by the intersection, he could not see who they were firing at, but he had no need to set eyes upon them to know they were there. Green and blue plasma bolts flew wildly over the hapless soldier's heads, while the barks and yips of excited Grunts and the guttural roars of Elites rang through the frenzied air. Overall, it was a scene of utter chaos.

Taking a deep breath, Tom moved forward into the fray. Almost immediately, he was greeted by the Marines with cries of "Look out!" and "Get down!" He needed no warning, and was already crouching as he moved behind the barricade. It didn't make him any less wary of the plasma sizzling over his head though, and his heart was already pounding as he took up a position next to the nearest Marine.

Taking another deep breath, he pulled back the slide of his weapon and loaded a round into the chamber, muttering "For thine is the kingdom." He let it go, allowing the slide to snap back into place. "And the power," He held the gun straight out before him, preparing to stand up. "And the glory," He popped up and whipped around, aiming carefully as plasma sliced the air all around him. "Forever." He gained a bead on an Elite in black armor, a commando, and closed one eye as he lined up the sight with the creature. "Amen," he whispered, and squeezed the trigger.

Meanwhile, deep within Solitude, the Master Chief switched on his night vision as the doors slid shut behind him and the eight ODSTs. The room immediately plunged into complete and total darkness. He paused, shaking off the feeling that they were now trapped like animals, and began to study their surroundings.

The room was somewhat like the one they had just been in. It was circular, and the stone walls curved inward and upward, forming a dome above their heads. The similarities ended there, however. The room was at least twice as wide in diameter. About twelve feet off the ground, a metal platform ran all the way around the room. There were eleven other doorways besides the one they had just entered through. Ten of them were accessible only if one stood upon the platform, while the last one was set into the wall on the opposite side of the room from where John was standing. In turn, the platform could only be reached by coming from those doors. Lastly, several thousand mysterious symbols were in engraved in the walls from floor to ceiling, leaving not one square inch of stone uncovered.

Mystified, the Chief's head continued to pan back and forth as he observed the strange place. Suddenly, his helmet speakers crackled loudly and a voice erupted from them. Had it been a lesser, inadequately trained man in his place, they would most likely have jumped straight out of the armor at the unexpected noise. But, because this was a man who had spent nearly half of his life training for such things, and the other half battling the mighty Covenant, he simply paused as Cortana's familiar voice rang into his ears.

"Miss me?" she asked, a playful tone apparent in her voice.

"Not really," the Chief lied, allowing a small hint of humor into his response.

"Hey, that hurt," she replied jovially. Had she been using a hologram, it would have been smirking, its hands resting on its hips.

"Where have you been?" he asked suddenly, changing the conversation from a friendly exchange to more serious topics. "Why did you take so long to establish contact?"

"Covenant security A.I." she answered curtly. "They've been chasing me through the system. I sent a few thousand echoes down several electronic pathways exactly seven seconds ago to confuse them. That should keep them busy for a little longer." Her tone of voice was quite smug.

"Did you find anything helpful?" he asked next.

"A few interesting details, but nothing that would be useful to you." Her voice became disappointed, almost as if she was slightly upset that she had been unable to find something that could help him.

"Don't worry about it. Just keep searching," he told her.

"Okay Chief." She paused for a moment, sounding as if she was checking something, and said "I have to go. Those security A.I. are getting a little too close for comfort. I'll contact you whe– . . ." She stopped again, as if something had caught her attention. Without warning, the room was filled with light as several overhead projectors switched on. Suddenly she yelled "Chief! Look out!" His head snapped up immediately, just in time to watch as all the doors upon the platform slid open simultaneously, and Covenant warriors began to pour out of them.

His rifle came up at once, along with the weapons of the other eight soldiers with him, and opened fire. Within seconds, the lifeless bodies of Grunts, Elites, and Jackals were toppling from the platform to the hard floor below. However, there were too many of them. Even as three bullets fired from John's rifle tore mercilessly through the body of a Grunt, three more took its place. Within seconds, they were surrounded. Hundreds of plasma weapons pointed straight at them from several feet above their head. As the angry roars of Elites, whines of several overcharged plasma pistols, and rattling of battle rifles and SMGs filled the air, John could not help thinking he was about to die.


End file.
